Good weather improves Ukraine's winter crops

Favourable weather has improved the state of Ukraine's winter crops and as of late December about 32.4 percent of the sown area was in good condition, analysts said on Friday. "Owing to the warmth in November-December, the crop conditions slightly improved," UkrAgroConsult agriculture consultancy said in a statement.
Analysts also said about 98.1 percent of Ukrainian winter crops had sprouted as late December compared with 91.7 percent in early December.
Ukrainian farms cut winter wheat area by 18.7 percent to 5.139 million hectares this year from 6.3 million in 2004. The winter barley area rose to 538,700 hectares from 477,600 in 2004.
Ukraine halved winter rye area to about 380,000 hectares from 661,000 in 2004.